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Caper, Spanish Academy Student

Caper's goal is to become fluent in Spanish, so that she can continue to learn other languages and become a global citizen.

“I am from Richmond, Virginia. I am here to become fluent in Spanish, so that I can continue to learn other languages. I have a goal of learning 10.

“I like the idea that there's a vast majority of people out there that we can talk to, if only we didn't have this language barrier. And I don't like the idea that many people have, that everyone should learn English. There's an entire continent that we have that all speak Spanish. And you want to be able to know those people. You want to be able to hear their stories about their childhood, or their children, or maybe their favorite hobby, or something like that.

“You need to be able to reach out there to make a global industry. If you really want a global industry, you have to know the languages. I remember, before I came here, I'd warn people when I spoke Spanish, I'm not very good, but I'm going to try.

“But now I don't feel like I need to do that at all. I can speak Spanish with ease. Especially, right now, I'm trying to think in English, and it's a lot harder, actually.

“Soccer is such a huge part of the culture. That is the life of so many people, soccer and the World Cup. A lot of Latin culture is very much about collectiveness and working together to reach a goal. And so it was so much fun, that it's hard to not do it.

“You can't be a global citizen if you don't know languages. I mean if you only know English you could be a citizen of 3 or 4 countries, but that's not global. Knowing more languages is incredibly important.

“I do like seeing other people progress. I like seeing other people succeed. And I just feel like I can be more of use if I know more things.”